A landmark Indian restaurant will be ‘naan’ more later this month after serving Reading’s curry fans for 30 years.

Sardar Palace, in Cemetery Junction, whose customers have included the great and the good of the town as well regular Reading diners, is to close on Saturday, June 19.

Director Bharminder Bhathal said recent changes to UK immigration laws had made it almost impossible to find suitable chefs for the restaurant.

He said: “We are retiring from the catering industry. It’s been 30 years which is a long time.

“Staffing has been a big problem. Legislation changed which means you can’t get the skills and experience that you need.

“We have got a good reputation in the town and we don’t want it to slip. We would rather go out while we are at the top.”

He added: “It’s going to be an end of an era.”

In 2008, restaurateurs warned newly introduced immigration restrictions could cause a ‘curry crises’. The points system meant migrants from outside the EU could only work in the UK if they met strict criteria including good educational qualifications and the ability to speak proficient English.

Mr Bhathal said the laws also meant existing cooks from India could no longer stay in the country. He said the restaurant had suffered a little during the recession but business had been going well. The future of the site is not known.

The Sardar was first located in Queen Victoria Street, in the town centre, before moving to London Road, East Reading, 15 years ago under the ownership of Abdul Loyes, whose family had run Indian restaurants in Reading since the 60s.

Mr Loyes said: “My family has been in this business for a long time. We have got to know a lot of people as generation after generation have been customers and we will miss them.”

- Another Reading institution, Colley’s Supper Rooms, closed its doors for good in May.

The restaurant, in Wokingham Road, East Reading, which specialised in traditional British food, had been in the town for 27 years. The

company ceased trading on Monday, May 10, and a financial business RSM Tenon, in Bournemouth, was due to be appointed as liquidator.